Taylor's Favorites – August 2025

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There’s new music coming out constantly, and sometimes it’s hard to keep up. 

Since January of 2021, I’ve been creating monthly playlists with the sole purpose of housing new music. Say what you will about Spotify (and I have); the platform is at least good at showing you new releases from artists you follow, thanks to its robust social-media-like system. I’m currently following over 4,500 artists on the platform, so pretty much every day, I log in, click “What’s New,” and am met with a steady scroll of fresh music. This is a double-edged sword because it feels like new songs materialize each day to sweep away the previous ones. For that reason, I started creating these playlists to keep track of all the latest music that’s on my radar as it comes out. 

In previous years, I’ve also used a note on my phone to jot down my favorite songs and albums. Each month, I’d crown one record as my favorite, adorning it with a little trophy emoji, then list a bunch of other albums, EPs, or splits that I liked. I’d do the same thing with songs, shouting out three of my favorites with similar wayfinding emojis and then listing any other tracks I enjoyed that month. It’s fun to condense hundreds of hours of music down to a shortlist of things I’ve been obsessed with, but I also hope there’s utility in it for friends who might not be keeping up with new releases in the same obsessive way. 

I’ve decided to publish both of these elements as a new regular feature within Swim Selects. Each month, I will publish this list of my favorite albums and songs from the past month to give people an overview of what I’ve been loving and what they might have missed. On a related note, it’s probably worth stating that these are definitively my favorites, so the list is often biased, emo, and far from comprehensive, but hopefully it gives you at least one or two new things to check out. Anyway, onto the music. 

Favorite Albums

🏆 Greg Freeman - Burnover

  • OK Cool - Chit Chat (Review)

  • Rosali - Slow Pain: Live and Solo from Drop of Sun

  • Hayley Williams - Ego Death At A Bachelorette Party

  • Anamanaguchi - Anyway

  • 9Million - 9Million

  • Teethe - Magic of the Sale (Review)

  • Pool Kids - Easier Said Than Done

  • Kerosene Heights - Blame It On The Weather (Review)

  • Pile - Sunshine and Balance Beams (Review)

  • Roseville - Townie

  • Adebisi Shank - This is the Second EP of a band called Adebisi Shank (Review)

  • Jobber - Jobber to the Stars (Review)

  • JER - Death of the Heart

  • Shox - Shox

  • The World Is A Beautiful Place & I Am No Longer Afraid to Die - Dreams of Being Dust

  • Way Dynamic - Massive Shoe (Single Review)

  • Deftones - private music

  • Ethel Cain - Wiloughby Tucker, I’ll Always Love You

  • Hot Mulligan - The Sound a Body Makes When It's Still

  • Cassandra Jenkins - My Light, My Massage Parlor

  • Retirement Party - Nothing To Hear Without A Sound (Single Review)

  • The Beths - Straight Line Was A Lie

  • Ganser - Animal Hospital

  • Pinkshift - Earthkeeper

Favorite Songs

🥇 Way Dynamic - “Miffed It”

🥈 Wednesday - “Bitter Everyday”

🥉 Anamanaguchi - “Buckwild"

  • Chappel Roan - “The Subway”

  • Retirement Party - “Sixth Sense”

  • Aren’t We Amphibians - “Dunce Hat”

  • Algernon Cadwallader - “Hawk”

  • The Merrier, Short Fictions - “eclipse”

  • TRSH - “Dusty”

  • saturdays at your place - “what am i supposed to do?”

  • Hannah Frances - “Surviving You”

  • Greg Freeman - “Salesman”

  • Militarie Gun - “B A D I D E A”

  • Buckingham Nicks - “Don’t Let Me Down Again"

  • foamboy - “Phone”

  • Autumn Rhythm - “Star model”

  • Teen Suicice - “Whip Pool Will”

  • Nourished by Time - “Idiot In The Park”

  • Cassandra Jenkins - “Omakase of Time”

  • Dijon - “Baby!”

  • FinalBossFight! - “I Have to Go Now (My Planet Needs Me)”

  • Summerbruise - “Man! I Feel Like A Dumbass!”

  • Deftones - “Locked Club”

  • Broken Record - “T-60”

  • Pool Kids - “Tinted Windows”

  • Beach Bunny - “Year of the Optimist”

  • Mavis Staples - “Beautiful Strangers"

  • Jeff Tweedy - “Feel Free"

  • Omni - “High Ceilings”

  • The Merrier, Kicksie, Fetch Quest - “No Reply”

  • IDLES - “Rabbit Run"

  • Charlie Kaplan - “No More Mistakes”

  • Geese - “100 Horses"

  • Maneka - “shallowing”

  • Leisure Hour - “Happy Birthday!”

  • Thanks! I Hate It - “These Noodles Aren’t That Spicy”

  • Empty Heaven - “Cop Car"